Hamden Officer Suspended In Connection With Missing Man Case

HAMDEN, CT — Hamden Police Officer Stephen Phipps was suspended for 20 days for inadequately investigating an incident involving a missing Middletown man, according to WTNH News 8.

Peter Recchia has been missing from Middletown for five months. Recchia's last confirmed sighting is Oct. 3, 2019 when he was spotted in New Haven after coming into contact with a Hamden family and Hamden police.

Recchia was reported missing from Middletown on Oct. 2 and was last seen on State Street in New Haven at 4:56 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3. It is believed that he walked from Durham around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2 through to Hamden in the State Street area and continued into New Haven. He had entered a home on State Street in Hamden around 4 a.m. on Oct. 3. The resident found him downstairs in the kitchen and they talked before he left.

Police then found Recchia walking on State Street and the officer determined that he wasn't a danger to himself or others and was told he could leave, officials said at the time. The officer conducted a computer check at the scene and there were no active warrants for Recchia and the Silver Alert hadn't been issued yet, police said.

The family claims Recchia would have been clearly in need of medical attention after walking from Middletown to Hamden over a 15-hour period, according to WTNH.

Recchia’s family continues to search for him and a Facebook page has been set up to help increase community awareness and report any sightings. Visit the Facebook page here.

Read more about the officer’s suspension at WTNH News 8 here.